For Market, History Doesn't Repeat or Even Rhyme

The monetary backdrop is different from previous crashes. That doesn't preclude a correction or more.

History doesn't repeat itself but it does rhyme, as Mark Twain often has been quoted. With equity markets hovering near historic highs, more than a few stock-market whisperers claim to discern precedents in the current action that recall the past.

Specifically, these observers draw parallels to the market peaks of 1929, 1987, 2000 and 2007 -- and the cacophonous crashes that followed. While there are similarities in the rhythms and...